Bronchitis: hacking cough with mucus, low or no fever, crummy but functional, usually viral, 1-3 weeks, antibiotics useless. Pneumonia: high fever and chills, breathlessness, chest pain on breathing, genuinely ill; needs a same-day exam and often antibiotics.
The distinguishing tells are depth and sickness: breathlessness, chest pain with breathing, high fever, and real systemic illness point down into the lungs. The exam confirms it: crackles on listening, chest X-ray if needed. The ER list: severe breathlessness, blue lips, saturation under about 92 percent on a home pulse oximeter, confusion (a classic elderly pneumonia presentation even without fever), or cardiac-type chest pain. High-risk groups (65-plus, under 2, COPD, asthma, heart disease, smokers, immunocompromised) get evaluated sooner. For plain bronchitis: rest, fluids, humidifier, honey, acetaminophen or ibuprofen, and patience, because the cough outlives the illness and 3 lingering weeks is normal.
What to do
Common questions
Is it pneumonia or bronchitis?
Both are chest coughs, and both can follow a cold, but they differ in how deep and how sick. Acute bronchitis is inflamed airways: a hacking cough that brings up mucus (clear, yellow, or green, and color does not mean bacterial), chest soreness from coughing, maybe a low fever, and you feel crummy but fundamentally functional; it is almost always viral, runs 1 to 3 weeks, and antibiotics do not help, per MedlinePlus. Pneumonia is infection down in the air sacs of the lung itself, and it makes you sick, not just coughy: high fever and chills (or, in older adults, sometimes no fever but new confusion), shortness of breath or fast breathing, chest pain that stabs when you breathe in or cough, sweating, and a fatigue that flattens you. The practical tells: breathlessness, chest pain with breathing, high fever, and feeling genuinely ill point to pneumonia and earn a same-day exam, where a clinician listens for crackles and confirms with a chest X-ray if needed. Antibiotics are the answer for bacterial pneumonia and useless for viral bronchitis, which is why the label matters. The 911-or-ER list: severe breathlessness, blue lips or face, oxygen saturation below about 92 percent if you have a home pulse oximeter, confusion, or chest pain that could be cardiac. High-risk people (over 65, under 2, COPD, asthma, heart disease, smokers, immunocompromised) get a lower bar for evaluation, because pneumonia escalates faster there. Home care for plain bronchitis: rest, fluids, humidifier, honey for the cough, acetaminophen or ibuprofen, and patience: the cough outlasts the illness, and 3 weeks of lingering cough after a virus is normal.